Saint John's Day in Saugatuck

Last night, on Saint John the Evangelist’s Day, my wife, stepson and I saw “December’s Rose”, a play adapted for the public from Carl H. Claudy’s Masonic play, “A Rose Upon the Altar”. The hour-long story is about a crisis in a small town lodge that gets resolved through Masonic tenets of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. The acting was superb, the story engaging and it was paced well. If you get a chance to see it – especially as performed by the Scottish Rite Players (Valley of Grand Rapids), do not miss it. Bring a hankie and pretend it’s for your date.

The next performance will be Monday, January 14th in Potterville Lodge #367, 204 W. Main St, Potterville MI.

But that’s not what I came here to tell you about.

There was a feast before dinner, and we sat next to Brother Ron. He and my wife, Sue, share a love of Kentucky, so she and Ron had a great time discussing the caves, state parks, etc. Sue goes to a few Masonic events a year, but she dreads the third person “lovely ladies” / “lovely wife” references, and doesn’t often meet someone with whom she shares interests, so it was a pleasure for me to know she enjoyed herself during dinner.

But again, that’s not what I came here to tell you about.

The dinner was a memorial – a celebration of life -- for Theodore “Ted” P. Kimball, 33°. I never met Ted Kimball, unless, perhaps, we shared a brief greeting at a Scottish Rite reunion. He was a member of Saugatuck Lodge #328. His friends and brother masons shared stories of his character, generosity, and love of life. My family was enthralled by his life story – a child of Greek immigrants who moved to Saugatuck, joined the lodge and became an integral part of the community; at the end, moving to Greece to “die with the gods”.

As we drove home, the story of Ted Kimball – a man we only met through his friends – was on our mind, overshadowing Claudy’s moving play. Sue told me, “I wish I’d known him”. I felt the same way.

To me, there’s no better tribute to a man, when those who never met him feel his absence. And that’s what I came here to tell you.

A Layer of meaning for the Square and Compasses

I'm walking through a geometry tutorial at the moment. It's interesting because it ties geometry and math to art in unexpected ways. My wife bought me a square and compass so I could play along with the various projects. These projects have brought some insight into Masonic symbolism.

One recurring theme, from the Great Pyramids to the cathedrals, is "Squaring the Circle". That's creating a square which has the circumference or area of the given circle. There are a variety of ways of doing this, but one of the simplest is using Square and Compasses.

The circle symbolizes the divine, perfection, immortality -- i.e., heaven. The square symbolizes the earth -- the imperfect world of Man. So "Squaring the Circle" is bringing the divine to earth.

And the working tools to bring the divine to earth, therefore, are the Square and Compasses.

Installation at Allegan

Allegan Lodge 111 had a terrific installation Wednesday night, with a sumptuous feast prior to the ceremony.

The Illustrious Walt Wheeler, 33, performed the ceremony. I know he installed Kalamazoo-Anchor lodge on Monday night, and the previous Tuesday he installed me as Senior Deacon (along with some other officers) in South Haven. He was very good about explaining to the non-masons when to stand up and sit down.

The Allegan County News sent a reporter to the ceremony, which was fantastic. I wish local South Haven newspapers would have done the same.

It took me 45 minutes to get there; it's almost the same distance as Paw Paw. I take M43 and turn left (North) instead of right to get to Allegan. At Allegan there was no surprise at my presence; we had all met at the Fennville installation. In fact, James -- who lives nearby -- was there as well.

Allegan has an energetic young group of officers, but is suffering from a lack of members. They have ritual practice scheduled for once a month -- a good idea. Their WM left the state last year unexpectedly, so all the officers moved up 10 months ago; they are maintaining their current positions.

I talked with the new WM about some joint degree work, and it looks like he's open to this idea. All in all, a great evening of fellowship.

Just Another Third Degree

Only it wasn't.

Paw Paw Lodge was raising a Master Mason. The DDI asked for help while I was visiting Bloomingdale/Hudson Lodge; Paw Paw, like my lodge, has not raised a MM candidate directly for some time. I wanted to support their effort, and if another lodge asks for help -- then I'll be there if I can.

My presence seemed to shock the men present. What the heck is someone from South Haven doing in Paw Paw? It was about a 45 minute drive. It seems like all our neighboring lodges are 30 to 45 minutes away.

A Past Master of their lodge acted as Master, and two very talented ritualists from Dowagiac took key roles in the ceremony. I helped open the lodge as Tyler, until the Junior Deacon could make the meeting, and I said my part without prompting or ritual book. I know it's not much, but I'm inordinately proud of myself. I acted as an extra -- you all know what I mean -- and only one man knew any of the FC lines. Fortunately, he knew all of them. Still, some other FCs read a few lines, just so there would be different voices, and some give-and-take.

One of the ruffians took his role less seriously than, perhaps he should have. He must have missed the opening admonition, because (for example) as he was dragged off he shouted that something about New Jersey and capital punishment.

The consensus afterwards was that it was a "little rough". About half the men involved had a ritual book open, and were reading lines or just following along. I didn't bring my ritual book, and I'm glad. If I had a brief line, I memorized it then said it -- like the Tyler's part. OK, "Here" isn't exactly a complex statement, and frankly, I'd be terrified if we had a MM ceremony next week with me as Senior Deacon. But, like these men, I'd face that fear and be as prepared as I could be, and do my best for the candidate.

Small lodges in our area are just starting to bring in new members, slowly building an officer corps that can raise new Masons without the necessity of a exemplar-type mass raising. I hope when my lodge resumes performing 3rd degree ceremonies, we do as well as Paw Paw.

Siblings -- off-topic

My (little) brother sent me this the other day. It's a classic example of friendly sibling rivalry and cracked me up. For those who don't recognize it: it's an Eagle Scout pin. Bronze Palms indicate (if I remember correctly) five extra merit badges.

Grand Chaplin

Last Thursday I helped install the officers at Dutcher lodge in neighboring Fennville. I assumed the role of Grand Chaplain.

We were greeted warmly by the brothers there, and several neighboring lodges attended: Saugatuck, Allegan, and of course South Haven. This was a great opportunity for us to touch base with the other lodges, and compare notes.

It was a private ceremony -- while ours was public -- and so it differed significantly.

Dutcher Lodge, like ours, has a few new officers coming up the line. The current WM has done his stint several times, but his son is right behind him in the West. I watched him, while still in the South, mouth his father's lines during the lodge opening; he'll make a good West.

The former WM rejoined the line at JD.

I envied Fennville's rapport with its neighbors. While we had "Masonic Celebrities" install our officers, they had their friends install them. While we invited the general public, the only other lodge to show up to ours was Fennville. Did we tell the other lodges? I don't know when their installation is -- or was. This has to change: we need to be more involved with our neighbors. Not to boost attendance at our installation, or to get a 3rd degree team going, but because we all need to be there for each other.

As a side note, does anyone know the etymology of the Grand Clap?

Installation in South Haven

Cornerstone Lodge #158 installed officers last night. Every active member received an officer's position except our past Master, Dick Burrows. He deliberately stepped out of the officer line.

We installed 12 officers (the Treasurer is in Florida for the next few months), including yours truly as Senior Deacon. Our WM has gone through the line before; our SW has also gone through the line at least once. The next four spots are filled with new officers.

The installing officers are active Grand Lodge officers -- including immediate Past Grand Master and current acting Grand Treasurer the Illustrious Walter Wheeler. These men love our lodge, almost as much as we do. It's a spectacular lodge built in a tiny town; some day I'll tell you more about it.

Right now I want to talk about the men who saved our lodge, including Dick (note, all these men are Past Masters). Dick was master nine times. Russ Campbell, our Secretary (and acting Treasurer) was master for three years running when he could not find anyone else willing to take the spot. In 1996 our lodge almost died, and it was saved only by merging with another dying lodge, Breedsville. Our current WM (Verne Hosier) and Treasurer (Dick Broadhagen) came from that lodge and joined the new Cornerstone lodge. Jack Balliet, next year's Tyler, took whatever officer role was necessary to keep our lodge going (and his wife makes us wonderful pies from time to time). Frank Aseltyne has become our perennial steward and has made sure we always had coffee and snacks after our meetings. AB Covey, our perennial marshal, is a phenomenal ritualist, giving me every lecture I received in our lodge without missing a word, delivering it with real meaning, making it new and wonderful for me. These men kept the lodge founded by Liberty Hyde Bailey in 1864 going long enough for us to step in.

I don't know any active members who joined between 1996 and 2006.In 2006, Ed (Once and future JD), and Tim (current JW) were raised and became active members. In 2007 James and I were raised. With four new active members, the men who saved our lodge have a chance to breathe. Hopefully we can raise one ore two more men next year who will have the same commitment to our craft -- and our lodge -- and, with the help of neighboring lodges -- we can start performing the third degree for our candidates again.